Mailbox signaling device



June v J. DOPPELHAMMER 2,421,603

v MAIL BOX SIGNALING DEVICE Filed Jan. 6, 1945 AWE/V7192 JOHNDOPPELH/IMMEE. J @Q, fl'rroz/vsv Patented June 3, 1947 1 2,421,603 MAmoxsIeNALING DEVICE John'i ljopiielliamnierfTwin LakeslMinn. ApplicationJanuary 6, 194's, Serial No. 5715613 This invention relates to new anduseful improvements in -mail boxes and more particularly to a signaldevice adapted-for use onga mail box to indicate when mail has "beenplaced therein.

" Anobject of -the present invention-is to provide signal jfl ag carriedbysaid arm may readily; be moved into signaling-position,-when mail isplaced inthe mailboxby the mailman or by the owner of thebox. v i I iV'Aiilrtherand more 'specific object is to provide asignaling deviceicinmail boxes comprising a supportingarm of angular formation lhavingiasignalingflag secured to one of its: legs and having its other legpivotally mounted onfa wall of the mail box at a point intermediatetheends of said leg, whereby when the supporting arm carrying the signal}fla'gis swung into signaling position the free lld Of thG Other leg ofthe 'ari'nis swung into position to engage a 'deteiit carried by thedoor of the mail. box, when samuwr (is closed, tlierbyto retainthefsignal in signaling position, the mounting of said signal aim beingsuch that'whenthe'cloor of'the'mail bo'xi opened, the signalfiagwillassume'a non-signaling position and Will remain so until again-manuallyswung into signaling position when the lniail is placedin the mail boxand. the door is closed.

Other objects of the invention resid in the simplemanner-inwhichthesignal is secured to a wall of the mail box; inthe formationof thedetent in the flange of the door which is so related to the freeendof'the signal supporting arm that when the signal is swung intosignaling position when the mail box dooriscl osed, said free endportion will lockingly engagesaid detent and thereby support the signalin signaling position; and in the formation of thepivot block forsupporting the signal arm, which block has means for limiting swingingmovement of the armin both directions and also for permitting limitedlatera'l movement of the supporting armjwhereby it may yield when the frlocking engagement with the detent on the door, when moving the arm intosignaling position after the door is closed.

Other objects or the invention in appeai-. rrom the fol owingdescription and the aceomp nymg 2 Claims: (01. 232 35) thesignalinnon-signaling position; a l

ee end 'thereofdis snapped into drawingand will be :pointed out "in theannexed claims. i In the accompanying drawing there-has been disclosed astructuredesigned to carry outthe various objeots'of the invention,butit is to be understood that'the invention isynot confinedto the"exact features shown, as various changes may be made within thescope=of the claims which follow. In thedrawing; i, U l v Figure 1 is aperspective View o'fa conventional mail box s owing the-inventionappliedthereto and in signaling position;

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1, showing Figure 3 isan enlargeddetail viewshowing the means for lockingthe signal arm in-signaling.position; r 5 I Figure 4 is a sectional plan view on the line 4-4 ofFigure 3;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary view of aportion of a mail boxshowing amodified form of detent, the signaling arm being shown in signalingposition; and i i v i i a Figure 6 is a .view similar to Figure 5,-showing the door partially opened to releas' the signaling arm. H s; Inthe selected embodiment-of the device herein 7 disclosed, there isillustrated in Figures 1 and 2, for purposes of disclosure, aconventional mail box generally idosignated by the numeral 2, pro- VidedWith'a' door 3 hinged to the body of the box by j suitable pivotsll.'I'hedooris shown provided i with a niarginal'flange? which in the formof the mail box Jherein disclosed, fits over the open "endoffthebox'when thedoor. is closed. i

A important feature oftlie present invention re'sidesinthe novel meansprovided f orindicating wlien mail1hasbeen placed in the mailbox. Itisriot broadly new to provide mall boxeswith some sorti'of signal whichmay bemoved intosignaling position when mail is placed the ma'il box toindicate that the box contains n ail which should be re oved therefrom.Most such devices now in common use are rather complicated and expensive 'in c'onstruction, and therefore have not become .univer'sallyused Others'ofthe Lrnore. simpler t'y'pe have been so fasbionedthat whenmoved or swung into signaling position, they could remain insuohposition when the door of the mail box is opened, unless manuallymoved into non-signaling position by the mail man or ownerfo'f'the box,H The novel signaling-device hereindisclosed has. beendesig'fied in aneffortto provi'desuoh adevice wherein all of the objectionable featuresnow present in devices of this general type have been eliminated,whereby such a device is provided which is extremely simple andinexpensive in construction and operation, and which is such that whenin signaling position and the door of the mail box is opened, the signalwill automatically move into non-signaling position and will remain sountil the door of the mail box is again closed and the signal ismanually moved into signaling position. In other words, the novel signalherein disclosed is so constructed that it cannot be retained insignaling positionwhen the door of the mail box is open, whereby whenthe door is opened the signal will immediately assume a non-signal-v ingposition.

The novel signaling device herein shown is shown comprising a signalflag 6 secured to one end of an arm I having an offset portion or leg 8at its lower end which is supported intermediately of its ends by apivot pin 9 secured to a pivot block I l which, in turn, is secured to awall of the mail box by suitable means such as rivets [2. The

pivot pin 9 in the present instance is shown extending through the upperwall portion or flange I3 of the pivot block and the wall M of the mailbox and may be secured in position by applying a nut I5 to the threadedendof the pivot pin or screw.

The wall 13 of the pivot block constitutes, in effect, a flange which isdisposed in a common plane with a flange or wall portion I6 of the pivotblock. By so constructing the pivot block, abutment shoulders or facesI1 and I8 are adapted to be engaged by the lower edge'of the leg 8 ofthe supporting arm 1, thereby to limit the swinging movement of the armin both directions, as will be understood by reference to Figure 3.

The free end portion IQ of the leg 8 of the arm is adapted to be swunginto position to engage a detent 2| shown provided in the flange 5 ofthe door '3 of the mail box, whereby when the door is closed, as shownin Figures 1, 3, and 4, and the signal 6 is swung into signalingposition as illustrated in Figure 1, thefree end portion H! of thesignal arm will engage beneath the detent 2| and thereby retain thesignal arm in signaling position, as will readily be understood.

To facilitate swinging the free end it! of the supporting arm intolocking engagement with the detent 2|, when the door 3 is in closedposition, a suitable spring washer 22 is shown provided on the pivot pin9 between the leg 8 of the supporting arm and the adjacent face of thewall IA of the mail box. This washer normally holds the signal armoutwardly against the wall' flanges I3 or IE, but permits the leg 8 ofthe signal arm to,

move laterally or in other words, axially on the pivot pin 9withincertain limits, thereby to permit the free end portion I!) of the arm tolaterally swing over the detent 2| and snap into locking engagementtherewith.

From the foregoing it will be noted that when the door of the mail boxis closed as shown in Figure 2, and the signal is swung upwardly asindicated by the arrow in said figure, the end portion I9 of the leg 8of the signal arm will move into locking engagement with the detent 2|,whereby the signal arm is retained in signaling position so long as thedoor of the mail box remains closed. Immediately upon opening of themail box door, the signal flag 6 will assume its non-signaling position,shown in Figure 2, returning to such position by gravity as the pivotpin 9 v is so located with respect to the signal flag 6 that 4 gravitywill quickly swing the flag into non-signaling position when the detent2| is moved out of locking engagement with the supporting arm by openingthe door 3 of the mail box. It will thus be seen that the signal flagcannot be retained in signaling position unless the door of the mail boxis closed.

In Figures 5 and 6 there is illustrated a construction comprising ayieldable detent 23 which may be formed of flat'spring stock having oneend secured to the flange 5 of the cover 3 by such means as rivets. Theopposite end of the detent 23 is bent inwardly and may pass through asuitable aperture 24 provided in the flange 5, as clearly illustrated inthe drawing. The detent 23 functions in a manner similar to the detent2| shown in the previous figure, except that it may yieldsomewhat shouldthe end portion 19 of the signaling arm I be swung into lockingengagement therewith when the door of the mail box is closed.

In some instances it may be desirable to attach a small spring to thearm 1 to constantly exert a force thereon to swing it into non-signalingposition. From actual experience, however, I have found that byconstructing the arm as herein disclosed, gravity will quickly swing thearm into non-signaling position when the door ofthe mail box is opened.1

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that I have accomplishedat least the principal objects of my invention, and it will also be apparent to those skilled in the art that theembodiments herein describedmay be variously changed and modified without departing from the spiritof the invention, and that the invenpreciated that the hereindisclosedembodiments are illustrative only, and that my invention is notlimited thereto.

I claim as my invention: H

1. In combination with a mail box having an open end and a door forclosing said open end, a signal device including a mounting bracketsecured to the side wall of the box, said mounting bracket being formedwith a rearwardly extendingflange spaced outwardly from theadjacent wallof the mail box and extending upwardly from the bottom of the bracketand forwardly to the front end thereof, and disposed in substantially avertical plane, and a signal arm of substantially L-shapedconfigurationeomprising angularly disposed legs, one of said legs beingpivoted to the upper rear portion of the bracket flange and adapted,when in substantially a horizontal position, to interlock with meansonthe doorto secure the signal arm with its other leg in an uprightsignalling position when the door is 2. In combination with a mail boxhaving an open end and'a door for closing saidopen end, a signaldeviceincluding a mounting bracket secured to the side wall of the box,said mounting bracket being formed with a rearwardly extending flangespaced outwardly from the adjacent wall of the mailbox and extendingupwardly from the bottom of the bracket and forwardly to the front endthereof, and disposed in substantially a vertical plane, and a signalarm of substantially L-shaped configration comprising an- 2,421,608 5. 6gularly disposed legs, one of which is longer than REFERENCE D theother, the relatively shorter leg being pivoted s C E to the upper rearportion of the bracket flange The following references are of record inthe and adapted to interlock with means on the door file of thls patent:

to secure the signal arm with its other relatively 5 UNITED STATESPATENTS longer leg in an upright signalling position when Number NameDate the door is closed, the mounting of said signal 1,535,677 MaserangApt 28, 1925 arm on the mounting bracket being such that 1,627,617Nordin May 10, 1927 when the signal arm is in signalling position and 101 9 9 573 Man 6, 1934 the door is opened, said signalling arm willgravi- 2,073,160 Reed Apr, 20, 1937 tate to a non-signalling position.2,098,242 Holmes Nov. 9, 1937 2,352,975 Roe s July 4, 1944 JOHNDOPPELHAMMER. 825,503 Zylstra July 130, 1906

